Monster Seems to be getting Skinny???

[monsterbeard]

All this way and my fat man (well we think she might be a girl, I will have to post a pic and have you guys help me with that!) My fat man seems to be losing weight. he just shat an extremely large turd out yesterday, and he is eating, but not nearly as much as usual. He did accidentally eat a dead cricket the other day- could he have food poisoning????

he is also in the middle of shedding his back, so maybe thats why??

His back area, looks kind of saggy like there is extra skin there, and his belly just doesn't look as fat as it use too. right now he is lounging on his tree, didn't mind being misted. I'm going to give him a bath here in a few minutes..

& Is it strange for them to shed for 2-3 weeks, He sheds his feet and tail first, then a week later his back starts, and.. its been stuck on there for a bout a week, I feel so bad for him!

 

[monsterbeard]

Also, he seems to be breathing kind of funny. short and hard, instead of the normal long and relaxed big breaths, maybe im just paranoid..

another weird thing i have noticed is the top of his head keeps getting darker, those little circley scales get brown, or grey, black you could even say, then by the end of the day they should be that greenish color again. is this because he is cold at night?? ive noticed he enjoys it to be about 65 in there. and its always humid in the morning but there is not much i can do about that..

 

[AHBD]

Hi there....it would help to get a picture up. But no, eating a dead cricket wouldn't be harmful, and as for saggy skin, well beardies have [ as you know ] a HUGE abdominal cavity that expands with big meals and then gets shrunken a bit when it passes through. That allows for what looks like excess saggy skin at times. And the shedding like that is totally normal. He will be just fine, the bath will help with hydration as well as shedding.

 

[AHBD]

You posted your second reply at sime time I was writing my first reply....if your tank has high humidity, don't mist him, and if he seems to have any trouble breathing you may want to raise the night temps. to about 75, you can buy a ceramic heat emitter that produces heat but no light.

 

[monsterbeard]

thank you he seems to be doing fine.. and oddly enough, he enjoys the cold. he will burrow down under the paper towels just to be able to cubby up against the glass corner.. Is that normal, I wonder? It stays about 68-70 at night, I've started putting a blanket up for insulation at night, and because he is in the bedroom, to filter out our lights if we are up later than his bedtime.

 

[AHBD]

As long as Monster is healthy, there's nothing wrong with him sleeping at 60-70 degrees this time of year.